This invention relates to exercising apparatus and more particularly relates to indoor exercisers of the type which simulate bicycling and which are customarily referred to as "exercycles" or exercise cycles.
Various types of exercising devices have been devised to the end of providing some means of indoor exercise which will closely simulate outdoor forms of exercise. A popular indoor form of exercising apparatus is the exercise cycle which will essentially permit a person to pedal in place and through a speedometer reading taken off of a front wheel mounting determine the speed of rotation and distance. Typical of such exercising apparatus are those disclosed in the U.S. Patents to Baine No. 1,744,607 and to Snyder No. 2,238,295 in which a seat portion, pedal crank assembly and front wheel are mounted on a stand so that the rider can by rotating the pedal crank assembly effect the same exercise as in riding a bicycle. Further, as disclosed in the Snyder patent, rotation of the pedal crank assembly is imparted through a chain drive to a front wheel to which is connected a speedometer so as to permit the rider to determine his speed of rotation. In addition, varying degrees of resistance to rotation can be imparted through a tension controlling device which will impose a varying amount of resistance to rotation by varying its pressure against the outer surface of the wheel, as typified by the patents to Baine and Snyder. Other approaches have been taken to apply varying degrees of tension or resistance to rotation, such as, that disclosed in German Pat. No. 2,023,131 where a pedal crank assembly is employed without a separate front wheel and variable resistance to rotation is provided through a cable trained over a pulley and where the cable may be regulated in tension to resist rotation of the pulley. Other forms of exercising apparatus designed for leg or limb exercising which do not employ a separate pedal crank operating through a front wheel is represented by U.S. Patent No. to Weitzel No. 3,100,640 in which foot pedals are affixed directly to a rotating member and the tension or resistance to rotation is adjustably controlled by means of a brake member secured to one end of the hub or center shaft of the rotating member. The latter approach has not been as favorably received as the exercycle in that it does not simulate riding of a bicycle and does not afford a means for the exerciser to determine accurately either the rate of speed at which he is pedaling or the "distance" or mileage which can be determined from the speed of rotation over a given time interval.
In known forms of exercising apparatus, as generally represented by the patents to Snyder and Baine, the tension control devices employed are not readily accessible to the rider or exerciser. Further, such devices impose resistance on the outer surface of the wheel and therefore are subject to wear and uneven resistance to rotation. In any event it has been discovered that braking or resistance to rotation can be made more accessible to the rider by imposing such resistance directly upon the crankshaft of the pedal crank assembly. At the same time, an improved power transmission drive can be employed for imparting rotation from the pedal crank assembly into the front wheel which is quiet but very durable and which is in part attributable to removing the tension control from the wheel itself and applying it to the pedal crank assembly so that the power transmission drive is not operating against the resistance imposed on the front wheel by a brake member. Moreover, it is desirable to provide a simplified but greatly unified assembly in which a single U-shaped frame is suspended between a pair of front and rear standards so as to afford a greatly simplified but more rigid type of mounting for the seat portion, pedal crank assembly and front wheel.